Cast iron radiators how to tell btu's

i found six cast iron radiators for sale.
they have a flaming torch on them, stoker don has some of these i think.
they are 38" tall and 9" deep and 38, 32, 30, 28, 14, 14, 10 inches wide.

this is where i would use them:
38 wide the upstairs room, it's about 440 square foot.

30 wide dining room. the kitchen and dining room are open, the dining room side is 10x20 minus the room for the staircase. the kitchen is 10x20 but there is no room for a cast iron radiator, i will need to use a kickspace heater under the kitchen sink.

28 wide. either the living room or moms craft room.....both are same size, about 180 square foot.

14 wide, back bathroom 5x8 (over a crawlspace)
14 wide laundry room 5x12 (over a crawlspace)
10 wide front bathroom 7x7 (basement below)

i will need 4 more radiators, two for the two other bedrooms, one for the living room, one for the basement. or will i need more than that?

picture of one.

A few basics about radiators may be helpful. Generally speaking,

1. Bulbous radiators are often Steam radiators (15psi vs 30psi). Check that you have In AND Out ports and their sizes. Some steam only have one port

2. Number of vertical channels = heat output. A radiator like the one you show has 3 per section.

A flat sectioned radiator with 5 vertical channels puts out a LOT of heat.

I have large ones (water) and the flat multi channel ones. No comparison.

Hope this helps.

Check out this post from a member...

Post by stoker-man - Pictorial: Cast Iron Radiator Sizing Charts, BTU Output

You could use the two spreadsheets I'm attaching here:

You could also use the cast iron radiator system design calculator that is linked within my tagline.

Nice looking radiators there Linc!

And, Welcome Back Larry!!! We missed you.

The Columbia Heating Guide would show that a 38" tall, 3 column radiator is 850 BTU per section at 180 degrees. That one in the picture would come out to 9350 BTU. When I sized the radiators for my house using this guide, I found that the BTU ratings that I came up with seem very conservative.

If you install these radiators as you have stated, you will likely have a lot more radiation than you need. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The more oversized your radiation is, the lower you can run the boiler water temperature.

-Don

StokerDon wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 13, 2020 6:33 pm

Nice looking radiators there Linc!

And, Welcome Back Larry!!! We missed you.

The Columbia Heating Guide would show that a 38" tall, 3 column radiator is 850 BTU per section at 180 degrees. That one in the picture would come out to 9350 BTU. When I sized the radiators for my house using this guide, I found that the BTU ratings that I came up with seem very conservative.

If you install these radiators as you have stated, you will likely have a lot more radiation than you need. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The more oversized your radiation is, the lower you can run the boiler water temperature.

-Don

Thanks Don!

how heavy are these going to be? will i be able to move them with a hand truck?
will i overload moms grand caravan?
the truck gets 5 mpg and has a rather high bed height (f-250 4x4)

I don't know how heavy they are but they are heavier than the other 3 column radiators that I have. I used my engine hoist to move them around.

-Don